Afghanistan’s Embattled Helmand Region Holds Rare-Earth Elements

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan’s Helmand province,
scene of some of the heaviest fighting between U.S. forces and
the Taliban, holds at least 1 million metric tons of rare-earth
elements such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, according to a
study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The deposits in the geological formation known as the
Khanneshin carbonatite are comparable in quality to commercially
exploited deposits in Bayan Obo, China, and Mountain Pass,
California, the USGS said today in a statement.

“This is just one more piece of evidence that
Afghanistan’s mineral sector has a bright future,” said Regina
Dubey, acting director of Department of Defense’s Task Force for
Business and Stability Operations, which funded the study.

“The international mining community is beginning to
realize Afghanistan’s extraordinary mineral potential,” she
said in a statement.

Rare-earth-based magnets and materials are used in Research
In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerrys, Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius cars,
and military radar. Lanthanum is used in hybrid engines and
metal alloys, and cerium is used in petroleum refining.

A preliminary USGS resource assessment, published in 2007,
estimated about 1.5 million metric tons of potential rare-earth
element resources in all of southern Afghanistan. The estimate
of about 1 million metric tons in just the Khanneshin
carbonatite verifies the 2007 USGS prediction and confirms the
unpublished work of Soviet scientists, the USGS said.

Barium and Uranium

In addition to high concentrations of rare-earth elements,
the deposit has significant concentrations of barium, strontium,
phosphorus, and uranium, the USGS said. The primary area of
mineralization covers approximately 0.74 square kilometers (0.29
square miles), according to the USGS report.

“The potential that these findings have for the future
well-being of the Afghan people is significant,” Ambassador
Marc Grossman, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan, said in the statement. “The United States will
continue to support the Government of Afghanistan’s efforts to
develop these resources through private-sector investment in a
responsible, transparent, and sustainable manner that benefits
the Afghan people, expands markets, and promotes regional
prosperity.”

China holds a total of 36 million metric tons of rare-earths reserves, or 36 percent of world resources, followed by
Russia with 19 million metric tons and the U.S. with 13 million
metric tons, according to a Sept. 30, 2010, Congressional
Research Service report.

More than 95 percent of global production of rare-earth
elements now comes from China, which in 2010 exported
approximately 30,000 metric tons of such products, according to
the USGS. New mines are being developed in Australia, and
projects exploring the feasibility of economic production of
other deposits are under way in the United States, Australia,
and Canada, the agency said.